Wanted- a Hollywood rival for Rajnikanth and Mithun movies

For years we have laughed on Rajnikanth and Mithun doing humanely and physically impossible stunts. Well....finally....here is a hollywood rival of their movies, with stellar cast that comprises of A-list stars like Angelina Jolie, Morgan freeman, Terrence stamp and James McAvoy. , 

The movie begins with scene in which a man runs faster than a train, leaps across sky-scrapper and shoots people while in air and finally, kills a man who was hiding behind a wall by shooting a bullet on curvy path. Which basically means his bullet bend its path, much like a boomerang.

But without wasting time, this scene is topped by another scene in which a bullet kills the same man, which was shot from a man sitting miles far and the bullet came flying like a bird- curving, bending, through windows, between buildings and finally on the roof of a building!

Before anyone says that those were specifically made bullets, I say yes I agree that there are bullets which can bend if specifically made. But they bend very little, and the distance required to bend them is much much more than length of a room (at the end of movie, there is a scene in which a bullets goes in circle in a room).

The script for the movie is lame too. There is a twist used a million times in movies already, there is an awakening of hero (realizing his real aim) and a final showdown (OK this thing is in all the movies). There is no explanation how the yarn started telling names and how they discovered it (OK I might let it go on 'fiction envelope theory' I discussed here). 

Cast is decent but I felt McAvoy didnt fit the second part of his role. He was perfectly fine for a lame looser but a cool and badass he is not. Even Jolie looked twice as big as him. Morgan freeman's role is of no importance and Angelina jolie is quite fine for role of badass girl.

But one point where movie actually scores is action. There are breath-taking action sequences, shot wonderfully.

Bottomline- Watch it for some great action. There are bullets striking each other head on, exploding rats, flipping cars and cars crashing in trains. Beware though, movie might force you to ponder, by giving lame reasoning about some things (like showing specially crafted bullet), but dont go for it. Dont think how it happened, even if movie asks you to. Reasoning in this movie is absolutely lame. Just sit back, relax, and let the bullets fly....and bend!!!!!!!

Also......eat something Jolie!!!!!!!! She is so skinny its disgusting!

Wanted- 6/10

Other movies I watched-

Wrong turn 2: dead end- 1/10

Being John malkovich- 6/10.

Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo bay- 8/10

Review- Devil May Cry 4

Sometimes, over the top creations become art. Sometimes, they become strangely appealing and intriguing. That’s the reason Kill bill worked, that’s the reason anime is famous and that’s the same reason that Devil may cry series is famous. Devil May cry 4 follows the same tradition. What would you call a game where your gun has infinite bullets, your character can remain in air while slashing demons, bullets hit each other mid-air and we carry swords so big that even picking them up would be hard, let alone slash someone? Over the top, obviously. But just like things I mentioned above, it works wonderfully. It’s amazing fun and apart from a few frustrating boss battles, wont bore you in all its play through.
Dante returns for fourth time in this latest installment, but he is not the main playable character. It’s Nero, a guy who totally looks like Dante’s brother and has one demon arm, which is probably the most powerful weapon in the game.
It starts with a beautiful cinematic, showing a ceremony of some kind in a grand hall. Kyrie (Nero’s love interest in the game, even on the first glance you will know she is the one) looks towards an empty seat, obviously waiting for Nero. She starts singing a song (which is really really good. This song is called ‘out of darkness’), and then we are shown Nero who is running fast, obviously to attend the ceremony. But some scarecrow demons stop his way. The song goes on and Nero keeps running towards his destination, killing demons in between. He reaches exactly when the song ends.
Everyone then starts praying, but Nero is bored of it. He has bought a gift, a necklace, for Kyrie. Everything seems fine and everyone is happy, but then suddenly enters and kills Sanctus (the leader of the clan which was held the ceremony). Who is he? It’s Dante!!

Nero feels Kyrie is in danger, so he faces off Dante then. Rest of the story is yours to see.

The great fountain.....

Gameplay-

Your first mission will be, obviously, facing Dante. The first thing you would notice is controls. You will loathe them at first, for there is no mouse support. Yes, you read it right. You can’t control the camera most of the times. And even when you do, it will be by arrow keys and not by mouse. It will suck greatly initially. Controls will feel strange, awkward and hard. But hang in there, I assure you that you will get used to them. In no way I am saying that it is the correct decision to not add Mouse support, but what I am indeed saying is that they aren’t as bad as they seem initially.
Once you get used to the controls, the game slowly draws you in. The combat is what takes the cake. Though there are many many combos to make in it, I just used three or four generic styles and got through the whole game. But for what it’s worth, whenever a combo happens, its deeply satisfying. For a third person game, puzzles are integral part, and DMC4 is no exception. Most of the puzzles are actually easy to solve, but they soon get boring. They only appear to be delaying us to reach much more satisfying combat sequences. Some puzzles are literally worthy of loathe, like a fountain-dice puzzle which comes just before the final battle and a forest mist puzzle.

Game is really easy, especially at easy settings. There will be no challenge until you reach a boss. Even most of the bosses are easy to defeat, even more so when you are controlling Nero, cause his devil-bringer arm makes everything a smooth ride. Other than puzzles, my other gripe with the gameplay is repetitive level designs. Initially you feel that they are varied, but later in the game, you will backtrack all the same levels again, just as a different character. The enemies are repetitive too. Especially the scarecrows. They are real easy foes to defeat, with no practical importance other than to extend the gameplay.

9/10.

Graphics-

Visually, DMC4 deserves all the praise it can get. It looks so good that I wouldn’t have minded if it was running at 40-45 FPS on my system. But I was pleasantly surprised that it ran at an average 90FPS, with never coming below 60FPS. It was real smooth. MT Framework (on which DMC4 runs) engine is one hell of an engine. Right on par with Source engine as best optimized engine in my opinion. What more praiseworthy was the fact that unlike most of the engines, it gave same FPS in interiors as in outdoors.
The art design too, is superb. Every single wall is intricately designed and Nero and Dante will be travelling from such vistas which will make your eyes pop out. Now, if only there was mouse support.

9.5/10

Beautiful......

Story, Presentation-

Story is not really the strongest point, but the wonderfully acted and choreographed sequences make it worth. Yes they are over the top, but that’s what makes them interesting. Like a sequence in which Dante talks to one of his strongest foes while doing opera. It might sound funny to read but is a sheer fun to watch. Oh yes, like most of the games, this game too uses females only as a pleasing addition to eyes. They are as sultry as you would imagine and Capcom has no qualms in showing cleavages and flesh.

8/10

Thats what I was saying.....And notice the Beowulf poster on the wall!!!!

AI, Controls, Stability-

I have already talked about controls. AI is run of the mill, and it actually isn’t a bad thing because it is no shooter that they need to take cover and all. They need to attack you upfront and that’s what they do.

Voice acting is on par with any game out there. Every character is well voiced, but Nero and Dante take the cake for being the coolest ones. Actually I should point out that, while Nero is cool too, Dante is far cooler a character than Nero. He is so arrogant that it makes bosses look like dancing puppies in front of him, even before the fight starts.
Soundtrack is a strange blend of metal and orchestral score. There are a few really good soundtracks, but then there are some metal songs which I personally don’t like much. But that is a personal taste and obviously is different for every other person.
Technically, the game is rock solid. I already pointed out that the engine is wonderfully optimized, but its really really stable too. The game never ever crashed even once! Now this is something which is becoming a rarity in modern games.

8.5/10

Bottom-line- Don’t let the bizarre control scheme scare you. It’s a wonderful game, both visually and gameplay wise. It is something you will realize only after playing, what you were missing out.

8.75/10

Back from Jaipur...Short reviews of Hancock and JTYJN

I was gone for two days only, but did so much in those that it seems I was gone for a while.

Anyway...I got chance to watch two movies consecutively for two days. One of my choice...and one of someone else's. One was good enough and one sucked.

It was turn of Hancock first, and it didnt disappoint.

What I liked about it was that it didnt have any boring moments at all. It kicks off with an action sequence, with some humor added in, and never goes in slow mode after that. Its packed with action sequences, funny scenes and some twists.

Will smith is the usual Will-funny and charming, which is in no way a bad thing. Charlize adds sexiness and also is the twist in herself (OK I know I might have spoiled a bit here).

Spolier ahead

A common complain that I heard was that the movie didnt explain why Hancock and Mary were made that way, that they will die if they be with each other. My take on it is this that its a fiction. For every fiction, there is an envelope, which is fictional. In that envelope, in that universe, you must state reason of everything. For example, in Hancock, the director must explain why Hancock got hurt. But the boundaries of that fiction envelope, need not be explained. Otherwise it wont be fiction. So in my opinion, they dont need to explain why they were made that way. Thats the boundary of fiction of Hancok.

Spoiler end here.

In the end, it has to be said that Hancock is in no way an inspirational, ground-breaking, jaw-dropping or masterpiece. But what it is, is a solid popcorn summer flick, to be watched with a lite-head, fun mood. It is entertaining.

Now coming to Jaane tu ya jaane na. I might sound like I dont like Bollywood movies at all, and bash every Bollywood movie in sight. But what the case truly is, is this that there are so few praise worthy Bollywood movies that writing or talking about most of them would sound like bashing.

Actually, movies like Swades, Rang de basanti and 1971 are some of my all time favorites.

Concerning movie of the occassion, the first thing I would like to say about JTYJN is that its a movie of regular bollywood cliches, stock characters, a bland plot and a super-recycled screenplay. 

Consider the story. A boy and girl are best friends, cant live without each other for a moment. But they dont realize that they are in love, they think they are just best friends. The movie is story how they realize that they actually love each other. Sounds familiar? Well...you have seen it a thousand times already.

Then there are stock characters. The brother of lead female character is a cocky and irritating guy, always insults lead male character, who is poor (oh I see I didnt mention that. Well...the guess you just made is correct...the heroine is reach). But come the end...and he is revealed to be actually a nice guy....and was actually so because of negligience from his own family.

Then there is mother of Hero, a know all one. She knows exactly when her son is thinking what, and feeling what and is upto what. 

Another one is girlfriend of hero. She comes to realize that the boy she loves, actually loves his best friend and she, you guessed it right again, sacrifices her love for the better.

A well-built, seemingly perfect guy is another of those. He is a womanizer of sorts, which establishes the fact right from his entry that he is not the one for our lovely female lead. He is evil, and we know it. We also know that at some point, he will show his ugly face, and our poor innocent heroine will come to know this.

Friend circle of leads. They have one guy, who always is in weeping mode (replacing the regular innocent, stupid and lovable friend of other movies), a funny Gujrati guy who will do some comedy, a girl who knows exactly whats going on in minds and hearts of other people in her group and a match for the stupid guy, an innocent and cute girl.

And finally, a funny and tough duo. Two brothers who travel on horses everywhere, are happy go lucky. They play pivotal role, in the end, for the success of Hero's quest for stopping his real love, who is....yes....leaving the country and right now is in Airport. Thats totally another deal that he could have called her right away. But then how the hell a regular Bollywood cliche, a chase of love to the airport would have been possible?

There are many othre stock characters and cliches in the movie, but writing about them would be wasting space and time. The bottom line is, it is just like regular garbage Bollywood has produced over the decades. Watch it just for a minute anywhere in between its story and you would be able to tell what has happened and what will happen.

List of movies I watched in Between-

Hancock- 9/10.

Jaane tu ya Jaane na- 3/10.

The other Boleyn girl- 9/10.

The 40 year old virgin- 9/10.

The station agent- 10/10.

The notebook- 8/10.

Run fatboy run- 8/10.

Pan's Labyrinth- 8/10.

Nim's island- 8/10.

 

Created another new blog

I recently created another new, a sister, blog-

http://beforeiforgot.blogspot.com

There is nothing much interesting there for anyone else. It is just a collecion of memories, which I will be adding continously. I will try to add as many as I can, and as old as I remember.

In other news, I will be going Jaipur for a few days tomorrow. So blog entries might not remain regular. 

South Park- Extremely offensive but funny nonetheless

Being offended is completely subjective, varying with everything involved. So something which is offensive for me, might not be for someone else. But in South park, they leave little possibility of not being offensive. It satirizes every sensitive topic. Be it homosexuality, religion, terrorism or racism. 

I have just started watching it, so as of now, I am not offended by anything. But considering the scope and number of episodes, it is highly possible that eventually, it will become offfensive to me.

But before becoming offensive, what it has already become is funny. The animation might seem strange and blocky and the low production values might turn off you for a while but hang in for a while and you will be drawn into the world of four foul-speaking kids. Somtimes the language is blatatntly and outrageously slapstick, by which I mean outrageous and slapstick both at the same time. S**t, f**k, a*s and any other imaginable word of this kind are common. I am not really sure if these are used as to be offensive, cute, strange or plain funny. But what I am sure of is that they do add a lot to charcters. They wont be what they are if they dont use these.

My favorite, so far, is Eric cartman. He is at odds with the group most of the times and also is the most cunning, selfish and fat. His voice is most funny (voiced by series co-creator Tery parker) and his way of tackling situations is no less.

Somehow, almost all other major characters are equally funny for me. Not only three remaigning main characters (Kyle, Stan and Kenny), but every other character. Be it Officer Barbarady, Chef or Mr.Harrison. But I hate Mayor McDaniels, cant stand her character. 

I have only started to watch it, so in no way I am in a position to write a review of it. But one thing that I can still recommend is that if you like to laugh and dont mind crude language, it wont disappoint. 

Reshu is now Ex-Miss Jaipur...One year term over

It was great, it was fun, it was huge and above all....it was cool. 

As I had reported in this entry, Reshu became Miss Jaipur about one year ago. But as is the case with all the place holders, she had to pass on it to some new girl. So she did. She is now ex miss Jaipur and someone else has become new one, for one year obviously.

Off topic, I have watched these movies after Have dreams-will travel, Gone baby gone and Assassination of Jesse James (about whom I wrote here)-

The Spiderwick chronicles- 9/10

Penelope- 7/10

American Dreamz- 9/10

Sleepwalking- 7/10 

21- 8/10 

Hotel Rwanda- 10/10 

Stardust- 9/10 

The Golden Compass- 8/10 

Ratatouille- 9/10

The Life Before Her Eyes- 6/10 

The Happening- 10/10

Mere Baap Pahle Aap- 6/10 

For the whole list of my ratings to all the movies I have ever watched, go here. 

Save Darfur- lend your hand

From the past five years, a time in which most of us lived happily and enjoyed what luxuries life has bestowed us, 4oooooo people died in Darfur, Sudan. When we were busy eating in McDonalds, they didnt have anything to eat. When we were travelling around the world, they were running to save their lives. Probably we all have seen such things in movies, but its time to realize that such things do happen in our world.

Come, let us unite to save Darfur. What can a mere person do? You ask. You are not alone. People worldwide are joining hands to save those lives who wont exist if we dont do anything. Thousands more will be orphaned, millions will be thrown out of their homes. You dont have to do mighty difficult tasks, start with whatever you want. Join the movement, sign petitions, write on your blogs and sites, donate if you can and tell more people about it. Let us pray that Darfur conflict will end soon and we will be able to wash those tears away.

Join the movement here. As a human, do your part, save lives. If we havent learned to help those who are in need, we taint the word Human. Africans have suffered more than what seems possible and even remotely bearable. They are harassed, killed, diseased, starved and suppressed for centuries, for ages. We could have been born in there. We are fortunate that we didn't, but in a world where news travels faster than thoughts and one can watch the world with a click, it will be severe crime to ignore their suffering, cries, pain and tears.

Movies you must watch in High Definition

High Definition (HD) era has begun. Gone are days of blurry are dull videos. HD provides picture quality never seen before. Colors come alive and pictures charms you. If I am sounding like an ad maker for HD (or Blu ray), you must watch one of these movies in HD first, I am adding some snapshots of each too. Click on pic to see it in all HD glory. But remember, you must click on each picture to see it in real HD.-

1. Spiderman




2. Spiderman 2-




3. Spiderman 3- I dont own this movie on HD, but I have seen it and its as good as, if not better, than former two.

4. Superman Returns-A word of caution here. This movie is darker, so in snapshots it might not look that clear. But it really very beautiful movie. Must watch in HD.




5. The Matrix-revolutions-Before I get crucified for not including Matrix and Matrix reloaded. let me tell that I have both of those in HD and though they looks really good, revolutions showcases true HD. They are a bit old and putting their snapshots didnt seem that good of an idea. And also, snaps of revolutions are native 1080p, pure awesomeness.




6. Transformers-






7. Troy-





8. Lord of the rings- Fellowship of the ring-





9. Lord of the Rings- The two towers-





10. The Lord of the Rings- Return of the king-









And then here are some movies, snapshots of which I havent posted, but I have seen them in HD and they look awesome in it.

1. Stardust.
2. Matrix reloaded.
3. The Matrix.
4. Golden compass.
5. Spiderwick chronicles.
6. Assassination of Jesse james by coward Robert ford.
7. Pirates of the caribbean series.
8. Pearl harbor.
9. Batman begins.
10. Night at the Museum.

Remember the bottomline- if I can recommend, I would say watch all movies in HD. But since its not possible, if you're going to watch any of above mentioned movies, and if there is even a little tiny viny chance that you might watch them on HD, wait ana watch on HD.